TEHRAN -- Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization chief Muhammad Eslami said on Wednesday that Iran’s parliament legislation remains the basis for the country’s engagement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stressing that the agency cannot claim the right to inspect nuclear sites that have come under military attack until specific inspection rules and a protocol are established, approved and formally issued.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the launch and unveiling of four knowledge-based achievements by the Atomic Energy Organization, Eslami said: “The law passed by parliament is our basis, and under that law, we have also notified the IAEA.”
He said all of Iran’s nuclear facilities that were struck in military attacks had already been registered with the IAEA and had been subject to regular inspections.
“Facilities that have now been completely hit by military strikes were all registered with the IAEA, and the IAEA had been conducting continuous inspections of them,” Eslami said.
He said that the agency must first clarify how inspections should be conducted at sites that have been attacked.
“The IAEA must determine its position regarding the security of the sites and announce what protocol it has for sites that come under military attack,” he said.
Eslami said the IAEA currently has no such protocol, while the United States and Israel are pressing the agency to visit damaged facilities.
“In a situation where the IAEA has no such protocol and does not take a position, it is only the United States and Israel that are applying pressure for the IAEA to visit and inspect the destroyed sites,” he said.
According to Eslami, the purpose of that pressure is to determine the consequences of the military terrorism against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“The reason for this pressure is that they want to see what has happened to these sites as a result of the military operations they carried out,” he said.
He also stressed that Iran continues to consider itself to be in a wartime situation.
“The situation in our country is still a wartime situation, and it is not yet such that one can assume the war has ended and the security of the sites has been restored,” Eslami said.
“The IAEA also knows very well that under these circumstances, until the rules and protocol for inspecting sites that have come under military attack are drafted, approved and issued, it cannot claim to have the right to conduct inspections.”
Eslami said inspections have continued at nuclear facilities that were not hit by military strikes. “Sites that were not hit have been inspected, and this is natural and self-evident,” he said.
The Atomic Energy Organization chief also criticized the IAEA for failing to condemn the terrorist attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying: “The fact that the IAEA does not protest or condemn these attacks calls its competence and independence into question.”
In other remarks, Eslami said Iran’s exports of radiopharmaceuticals to several countries have continued despite the war, while 20 clinics across the country are currently providing plasma-based treatment for chronic wounds. He also said additional clinics are expected to open soon.
On nuclear fusion, Eslami described fusion energy as the energy of the future, saying Iran is advancing its national “Shams” tokamak project and hopes to accelerate work to narrow the gap with developed countries working in the field.